


What A Fine Wish (Beyond the Gates of Glory)

by MidknightMasquerade



Category: Radiata Stories, Valkyrie Profile Series
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Male-Female Friendship, Non-Human Path, Platonic Relationships, Post-Canon, Wish Fulfillment, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-13 14:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15366975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidknightMasquerade/pseuds/MidknightMasquerade
Summary: Mikey's unexpected encounter with the evidently divine could both change his opinion of the supernatural and present him with a proposal he cannot refuse.





	1. Stairway to Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> As of late, I have drowned myself in the fanmade support conversations in UnassumingVenusaur's Gay Awakening project for Fire Emblem: Fates. Throughout my most recent readings, I realized how well these two series would work together. Having support conversations between the countless characters in this game could add an additional layer of depth to each person and their relationship with their fellow teammates. That being said, I devised a handful of potential supports between my favorite characters in Radiata Stories and decided to turn this one into a full-fledged story!
> 
> I encourage anyone else familiar with the two series to do the same. If you have a potential pairing you'd be interested in seeing, let me know! Who knows? Maybe I can work my magic again.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikey stumbles upon an unexpected opportunity amidst a world of distorted dreams.

Mikey could recount from memory every ancient legend, of dragons that threatened their world and the unsung soldiers that slayed them, be they human or inhuman in origin. But songs of the gods? Tales of fictional deities? Stories of supernatural saviors? Only humans needed gods. Humanity invented divinity to supply them with the power they could not themselves manifest. Mikey knew each god by name, but believed in none. Now, he wondered whether those fairytales contained a facet of truth.

Mankind proclaimed Cairn Russell as a god amongst men - a champion of humanity, born of a bloodline fated for tragedy and triumph in kind. To stand before him in a corridor of distorted dreams shook Mikey to his core. Even Jack faltered in the face of his father. That ever-assured smile withered when confronted with a family member-turned-enemy, his hand wavering overtop the hilt of his sword. Cairn spared his son the pleasantries. Their pain was to be settled not with words, but with weapons.

Cairn nearly conquered them in but a moment’s time. His orb-blessed blade tore Fan from the sky before she could conjure a barrier to keep him at bay, her wings flickering before fading entirely. The frenzy of his former plague served as fuel for his fury, countering even Galvados in strength and in passion. Before long, the behemoth fell before his sword.

And then there were two.

Despite countless victories against unthinkable odds, Cairn still retained one tragic flaw - mortality. No man could escape his inevitable end, and Mikey intended to dig a grave here and now. In the end, Cairn proved himself a man no different than any other. He, too, succumbed to his destiny: death.

Mikey witnessed as the fabric of Cairn’s lifeforce unthreaded itself from reality, dissipating the apparition of the knight that once was. _See?_ Mikey thought. _No deities here. Just another human playing god._

As Jack stared at Cairn’s new resting place, Mikey distributed medicine to his teammates, helping each to their feet in turn. “Sooooo,” Mikey said when both Fan and Galvados stood resurrected, “where do we go now, boss?”

Mikey had expected Jack to crumble, buried in despair. Instead, he turned towards his team with that same, unshaken smile. “Not a clue!” 

Jack slid the Arbitrator back into its sheath and shrugged. “How am I supposed to know where to go with all these stairs? It’d take forever to follow them all!” He huffed, and Mikey caught a glimpse at the child beneath the leader. “Maybe it’s best we split up. Everyone take their own hallway and meet back here when you find a way outta here!”

Mikey knew no worse idea than that. Had Jack Russell never read a single story? Every time that the team splits up, something terrible happens to one, if not all, of them! Then again, Jack and reading did not a realistic couple make. His teammates complied without protest. If even Fan neglected to complain, then Mikey would make no such objection. He hurried on his way with but a longing wave to his wayward friends.

Direction did not reign in the Distortion Corridor, instead surrendering to the chaos that threatened to engulf it. Even gravity relinquished its rule over reality, Mikey soon realized, as he stood upside-down atop a stairwell that led further down into this seemingly endless underworld. When the world righted itself once more, Mikey could scarcely stand. He needed any escape he could take. Yet the only option available to him came in the form of a staircase rising high into the heavens.

Mikey took the risk.

One after another, the steps welcomed his presence with a pulse of unearthly light. Each step further from the next than from the last. A trick of the mind or an enchantment to muddle it? Mikey could not say for sure. He wondered whether he even wanted to know the answer. Mikey stumbled up, step by step, until he reached their summit. He collapsed atop the apex, gasping for air.

“Are you lost, little one?”

The unexpected conversation sent a startled Mikey slipping down a stair or two. He propped his gaze up from the stairwell to find a woman of unfathomable wonder. Inquisitive eyes greeted him at the top of the staircase. He swore they shone with the same emerald radiance. Waves of silver hair adorned a head crowned with a feathered helm. Azure armor coated the length of her outstretched hand, the straps of her bracers weaving up her arm to embrace the breastplate fastened round her torso.

Mikey refused her offered hand. He had only one question: _friend or foe_? “No!” A lie. One they both knew, at that. “Well, I was. Not anymore.” Mikey rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his shorts.

The woman straightened in kind. The sword strapped to her waist clacked against her grieves before retreating behind the folds of her skirt fabrics. “Then you know where we now stand?”

_I might be in hell,_ Mikey considered. _Or heaven? Maybe I’m dead. Or this is all a dream! Just like in my stories._ He only hoped they stood somewhere outside the Distortion Corridor.

Mikey opened his mouth to respond when his eyes caught sight of what lay beyond the woman. Golden gates, resplendent in their unrivaled glory, stood stalwart against the wall. Where they led, Mikey knew not - but he knew he wanted to.

“...maybe not.”

The woman hummed with amusement. “A good answer. Few understand it.” She continued on towards the gateway. Mikey found himself following. “Well then, what is it you seek? Me - or what I defend?”

Mikey furrowed his brow. “Neither.”

The woman stopped dead in her tracks. The heel of her grieves skirted around the stone floor. He had expected to find fury in her eyes, or perhaps confusion. Instead, he discovered something akin to sympathy. Or condescension? He could never tell between the two. “Everyone wants what I guard, child - whether they know it or not.”

“Not me. I’m looking for my friends.”

Her expression softened. “Then you’re in luck - many friends of yours lie beyond.” Her gaze rested on the bars of the gateway. Her eyelids sank, lips drooping. “They very much would like to reunite with you.”

Mikey released a sigh of relief. “Phew! I was starting to worry I’d never find Jack again!” He started towards the wall without hesitation. “Here he went, going on without me! Can’t say I’m surprised.”

“I’m afraid your Jack does not rest beyond these gates.” A moment passed, and the woman corrected her claim. “At least, not yet.”

Mikey turned towards her once more. “Then...what about Fan?”

She shook her head.

“Galvados? You know - big guy, all red, scary horns? You can’t miss him!”

“I’m afraid not.”

The hope that had lifted Mikey’s spirits disappeared. With this newfound disappointment, his heart sank deeper into his chest. “Then...they left me behind?” His gaze met the ground.

The sound of metal sweeping across stone signalled her approach. Only the careful caress of her hand on his shoulder caused him to meet her eyes. Empathy poured forth from her pupils. “Many leave before we wish them to.” She squeezed with surprising strength. “Do not fear, child. It is my sworn duty to guide lost souls home again.”

_Home?_ Mikey could not conceive of this stranger knowing his home. He had stood guard at the gates every day since time immemorable. He would have remembered a woman of her magnitude. “You know of the Forest Metropolis?”

Silver locks spilled down her shoulder as she tilted her head. She furrowed her brow, exposing her suspicion for but a moment, before stating with the utmost certainty, “I know of a metropolis more beautiful than any forest could ever hope to be.”

More beautiful than the Metropolis? _Not a chance._ Mikey had dreamt that the world beyond their motherland could compare to that of their makeshift shelter. Yet his travels with Jack and company had only proven that nothing could surpass the nostalgic comfort and natural charm of the forest. If she spoke true, then that meant… “It sounds like something out of a fairytale.”

That appeared to please her. “The written word could never encapsulate its majesty.” 

“And...you could take me there?”

She nodded. “If that is your wish.”

“My wish?” Mikey echoed. “Are you...a djinn?”

Melodious laughter echoed throughout the corridor. “I am much more than that.” 

The woman extended her hand towards Mikey. In her presence, Mikey felt pulled towards her palm. His fingers gravitated towards hers without willing them to, yet he did not resist their draw. If a world of such wonder existed, he wanted to see this storybook kingdom with his own two eyes.

He took her hand in his.

“Miiiiiikeeeey?”

Another voice, another startle. Mikey spun to face the source, only to find none.

“Hellooooo? Anybody home?”

Such a familiar voice, yet for a moment, he could not recall its owner. With the utmost caution, Mikey approached the entrance to the chamber. “...Jack?”

With his head stretched overtop of the stairwell’s summit, Mikey found Jack none too far off. Jack stood more than halfway up the steps, his hands cupped around his mouth. His eyes scanned the horizon before finding Mikey. Indignation painted his expression. “There you are! Where the heck have you been!? We’ve been looking all over for you!”

Jack hurried to reach the top. Fan fluttered behind him on newly-healed wings. Last but not least, Galvados ascended the stairwell with all the grace of an ox in heat.

Mikey motioned towards the woman and the world she defended. “I was talking with…” Yet, when he turned to invite his newfound friend to meet his comrades, she had vanished - along with the gateway she guarded.

Jack raised an eyebrow. “The wall?” His clammy hand mussed Mikey’s hair. “You weirdo.”

Galvados howled with laughter. “Little man talk to wall. Like broody hero in fantasy story, yeah?” His gargantuan hand clutched his comparable belly as he bellowed.

“I wasn’t talking to a wall!” Mikey’s cheeks burned red with rage. Once-open hands instinctively clenched into fists. “There was someone here - a lady!”

Fan grinned with devilish intent. Mikey recognized that look - it meant trouble for whoever she directed it at. “Oh ho, imagining the ladies now, huh?” She elbowed Jack. “You must be rubbing off on him.”

Jack drew back, hands resting behind his head as he balanced on his heels. “Nah, it’s all those romance novels! Kid’s always got his head in his fairytales!”

Mikey snatched the hat off of his head, too embarrassed to engage in their games. Instead, he tugged at the loose strands of blonde that Jack knocked astray. At least his hair could hide his shame. “How did you three find me, anyways?”

“You cackling, remember?” Galvados replied.

“We could have heard it from Helencia,” Fan amended.

Jack smirked. “It was kind of creepy.”

_Laughing?_ Mikey thought. _But I never…_

Mikey lost the opportunity to complete his thought as Jack tugged on his arm. “Come on, chuckles. Let’s go home. I’ve had enough of this place for one day.”

His teammates hummed in agreement, Fan already plotting her next prank with Shin and Galvados his hunt to come. As Jack dragged Mikey out of their twisted prison, Mikey could not help but look back one last time at the place where his potential savior once stood. Still, it sat empty. Had it all truly been a dream? 

Yet as they descended the steps, Mikey swore he heard her laugh one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mikey and Valkyrie attained support level C!"
> 
> Full disclosure: I may be taking some creative liberties with Lenneth, now and in the future, as I have only limited exposure to and knowledge of the Valkyrie Profile series. Since this game canonically destroys any sense of lore in the Valkyrie Profile series anyways, let's just chalk it up to potentially non-canonical worldbuilding, shall we?


	2. Gateway to Valhalla

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack indulges Mikey's incessant claims about a mysterious woman manifesting in the Distortion Corridor, only to have a divine revelation of his own.

Two weeks lost following that fateful encounter, and still Mikey spent every waking moment dwelling on wishes, on ways out of this world, on green eyes before golden gates. 

Fan decried him as crazed. The Distortion Corridor could dement any mind. Mikey’s, she claimed, had already succumbed to the allure of fairytales - why not indulge in one more fantasy? One with a beautiful woman, no less.

Galvados believed him. Or at least, he led Mikey to assume so. “I saw something, too,” Galvados said, dragging Mikey in too close to bloodied fangs that reeked of a rancid flesh and bloodied meat. Mikey disregarded his odor for the sake of a fellow seer. “I see little man make conversation with big wall, cackle like crazy person! Me scared for sure!” Mikey squirmed out of Galvados’ grasp, seeking to escape the false comfort of his so-called friend. The sound of raucous laughter drowned out his muttered obscenities.

At least Jack humored him. Honest as ever, Jack denied any possibility of belief in Mikey’s incessant claims. Still, in his compassion - or was it pity? - he had agreed to accompany Mikey on one last trip to the Distortion Corridor. Should they find no sign of this spectre, then Mikey would speak no more of her.

“And if we do find some sign of her,” Mikey had asked, “what then?”

Jack had not even bothered entertaining the notion. “Then pigs will fly.”

Mikey stood there agape as Jack sauntered past without a second glance. “But...but Journey Pigs _do_ fly!”

With the power of the Journey Pig, Jack and Mikey departed on a private adventure through the depths of the Dragon Lair Cave and into the incoherent halls of the Distortion Corridor. Or rather, they would have, had Mikey remembered what path he had taken to meet his mysterious friend. Ten thousand stairwells spanned the interior of the Distortion Corridor. Mikey needed one. He could recall none.

Six hours of forgotten trails, attempted escape routes and inquiries of “are we there yet?” from his partner-in-crime led Mikey to the base of his destination at long last. He had never felt so relieved to climb a set of stairs in his life. Jack, however, lacked the same enthusiasm.

Their ascension up the staircase proved less difficult than they recalled. In mere minutes, they had approached the apex. As their end neared, however, Jack’s outcries only increased in quantity.

Mikey, however, had enough of his whining. “I’m telling you, Jack, she was real!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Jack heaved a sigh of relief as he reached the top step. To Mikey’s chagrin, the room bore no magnificent gateway, nor did it conceal a woman within. Still, Jack scanned the room with mild interest all the same. “Hurry up and show me your ghosty girlfriend so we can get out of here.”

“She’s not a ghost!”

“So she _is_ your girlfriend!”

“No, she’s--”

“--right behind you.”

Both boys shrieked as an unforeseen presence made itself known behind them. Jack lurched backwards as MIkey flipped forwards. The head-on collision sent them both struggling to catch themselves. Mikey and Jack stumbled, fumbling about to reclaim their footing, only to fall on the floor atop of one another in a heap of flailing limbs. 

At the foot of this mortal heap stood the objective of their investigation, her innocent smile hidden beneath an impish grin. “Boo?”

“What the hell!?” Jack attempted to cower away from her form. Mikey’s overturned torso, however, prevented any escape. Jack squirmed out from underneath his friend’s confinement. “Where did she come from?”

Face still planted firmly in the floor, Mikey grunted. “I told you she was real.”

The stranger arched an eyebrow. “I have always been here. In my eyes, you two are the intruders.” Her hand wavered dangerously close to the hilt of her sword.

“Have not!” Jack’s childish claim came with an accusatory finger pointed in her direction. “Where were you yesterday, huh?”

“Here, only…” The word evaded her. She tapped a calloused fingertip to her lips in thought. “...obscured, I suppose you could say.” She knelt down beside Mikey, who now clambered to his knees. “You see, I am always here - but not all know it.”

“...I don’t get it.”

The stranger sighed. “I suppose it is better to show you.”

With one arm around his waist, the woman hoisted a startled Mikey off of the ground and propped him back up into a standing position. Mikey could scarcely comprehend her strength. Not so much as a bead of sweat marred her unblemished skin. He knew then - they were in the presence of no ordinary swordswoman.

“Think of it like this: someone stands before you.” She yanked Mikey’s arm until he stood face-to-face with Jack. Mikey wondered whether this woman understood the concept of personal space, for he could feel the heat of Jack’s breath from this distance. She paid no heed to their discomfort. “With glasses, you could make out every detail of their figure.” 

The proximity between he and Mikey stirred Jack to squirming, but he made no motion to run. _Every detail indeed,_ Mikey thought. _If only I were Ridley._

“Now, take the glasses off.”

Jack glanced at the stranger. She beckoned him with a wave of her hand, as if he were an actor who had forgotten his cue. With great reluctance, Jack raised his hands to his head and removed a pair of imaginary glasses. Mikey stifled a laugh.

“Perfect,” the woman assured him. Neither of the men seemed so certain. “Now you might see a shadow, a mirage of truth, but you cannot see the person before you as they truly are. And yet, are they still there?”

“Well, yeah.” Jack shrugged. “You just need to put the glasses back on.”

“Exactly.” She pressed her hands together, apparently pleased with an obvious answer. “Without the proper tool, one cannot see what exists right before their very eyes! It is no different with the two of you.”

With the lesson supposedly complete, Jack leaned back on his heels. One foot tapped impatiently against the ground as he processed the information - a habit Jack had never been able to kick. Unfortunately, now it kicked Mikey - quite literally. By the crease in Jack’s brow, Mikey could tell his fearless leader might need some private tutoring to understand this lesson. “So, what? I can see you because I remembered my contacts this morning.”

Mikey groaned. If the woman shared his disgust, she showed no hint of it. “Nothing so literal, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, come on!” Jack lurched forward, arms outstretched. “Then what kinda tool are you talking about - Mikey?”

Emerald eyes fell on Mikey for but a moment. “No, although he possesses it the same as you. This time, you two came alone - and with a wish.”

“A wish, huh?” Jack’s sudden outburst surrendered to his immediate amusement. “I wish I could get the hell out of here.”

Triumph shone from every pore of the woman’s visage. Non-humans knew that look from when a predator believed it had cornered its prey after a chase. But humans? They knew a tamer form - that wicked grin when one’s enemy in chess makes one wrong move. In moments, checkmate would come. “That is one wish I can grant.”

“At least someone’s useful around here!” Mikey did not miss the glare Jack sent in his direction. “So, what - you’re some sort of genie?”

Mikey rolled his eyes. Either great minds think alike, or this lady really ought to learn her urban legends.

The woman hummed, amused by their mundane understanding. “Not quite. Allow me to introduce myself.” She swept past the both of them, stationed before the back wall of the chamber. With one fluid motion, she removed the feathered helm from atop her head, letting her platinum locks spill out like liquified silver against her armor. One open palm pressed against the heart of her breastplate. “I am named Lenneth, selector of souls and guardian to the gates of Valhalla.”

Lenneth gestured towards the wall behind her with a broad swing of her arm. The insignia emblazoned deep within the stone burned with a fiery radiance. The flames expanded outwards until they had consumed the wall whole. When the wall crumbled beneath the magic’s might, two golden gates manifested to take the place of its fallen concealer.

Jack’s jaw could have unhinged itself, had it hung any lower. “Far out!” His arms spun in tight circles, an inexplicable but expected product of his excitement. Mikey had seen the same reaction many a time - when stagediving at Donkey’s first live concert, when hunting for Blood Orcs in their homeland, and when standing at the foundation of the Gold Dragon Castle. “So what’s Valhalla, anyways?”

“Heaven...” The word was but a whisper on Mikey’s lips. 

Jack recoiled, all revelry lost to this revelation. “Woat, what!?” He flipped his head back and forth between his friend and their heavenly host. “You’re an angel?”

MIkey grasped at Jack’s arm. “No - a valkyrie.”

The glow of the golden gates did little to outshine the radiance of Lenneth’s smile. “So, you have heard the stories.”

“Heard them? I’ve memorized them! I even some of wrote my own!” Mikey tugged Jack closer, his grip on the other’s arm secure. “According to legend, the valkyries select souls they deem worthy of glory and crown them as heroes of the afterlife!”

“Oh, I get it now…” Jack nodded, but his face showed no sign of comprehension. As usual, MIkey doubted he understood. “She thinks we’re heroes!” _Doubts confirmed._ “That means you’re gonna give us all those fancy robes and thrones and stuff, right?”

“Is that your wish?” The chill of Lenneth’s question pierced through the warmth of Valhalla’s light.

Ever oblivious, Jack paid no mind to her derision. “I mean, that sounds pretty sweet to me. Besides the dying and all.”

“I have heard death is not as unpleasant as it sounds.”

Jack scoffed. “Oh, yeah? From who?”

“From your friends, of course.” Lenneth spoke with such assurance that Mikey wondered whether Fan and Galvados had visited her on their own time. What other friends of theirs would she know? “Your family. Your loved ones.” For a moment, her confidence faltered. Lenneth cast a wary glance towards the gates. “Or should I say ‘your lost ones’?”

Mikey took a step towards the gates, unable to retract his gaze from their grandeur. “Yesterday, you said I had friends waiting for me. I thought you meant Jack or Fan or...well, I guess Galvados counts. Kinda.” He could already hear Galvados getting a kick out of that one. At last, he pried his eyes from Valhalla to study Lenneth instead. “Who were you talking about?”

Lenneth did not retreat from his stare. Mikey had assumed he would find answers somewhere in her irises. Instead, she seemed to dig deeper into his identity than he had allowed her to. He had always been an avid reader, but it was she who read him like a book. “Someone waits for you in Valhalla.” Her eyelids sagged with the weight of compassion and sorrow. “Someone more precious to you than all the other souls combined…”

Mikey need not ask for clarification. “Lord Nogueira…”

Lenneth nodded.

“But...that’s impossible!” Mikey sputtered. “The Algandars--”

“--let him come home with me, once and for all,” Lenneth interrupted. She held a hand up to halt further questioning. Mikey obeyed, intent on understanding. “Light Elves always elude Valhalla, transferring their spirits from one vessel to another. Honestly, they’re no better than the dragons. Each of them grow more and more troubled as time progresses.” She huffed - a childish sight, ill-fitting for her regal demeanor. “But Algandars allows any soul to achieve the rest it deserves at long last.”

“He’s…” Mikey struggled to speak the truth. Dead. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “...at peace, then?”

“He is.” 

Mikey could have broken down, if he had not seen that same peace evident in the valkyrie herself. Deep down, he had always hoped that Nogueira had gone only for a time. One day, he would return and they would all feast together, share their fondest memories, and when the rest of the forest slept, Nogueira would recount his favorite stories one by one to make up for lost time.

Lenneth’s confession came as a bitter truth that Mikey could not swallow. Deep down, he understood that his dreams were but infantile imaginations. Even still, they let him hope. They allowed him to dream. Without his fantasies, what had he left to cling to?

Lenneth reared him back to reality, away from his momentary nightmares. “Fear not, little one. Your Nogueira is at peace - more than he ever had been in your metropolis.” She extended her hand towards him. “Would you like to see him? He misses you.”

That same gravitational tug gripped Mikey’s hand, leading it towards Lenneth without instruction. His digits brushed against Lenneth’s fingertips.

Jack smacked his hand away. “Mikey! You can’t seriously be considering this chick’s offer?”

“Why not?”

“She’s crazy!”

“So are you, and I followed you halfway around the world.”

“That’s different!” Jack gripped Mikey’s shoulder. The intensity of his grasp sent shockwaves shooting through Mikey’s vein. He did not intend to surrender his friend. “She’s trying to kill you!”

Mikey glanced back at the angel then. The spell broken, the pieces of the puzzle connected in his mind.

Lenneth appeared unperturbed. “I do not deny his claims. Is it not obvious? To reunite with Nogueira in heaven, you must sacrifice your soul.” Her expression lightened then, an unsettling enthusiasm creeping onto her face despite the morbidity of her words. “But you needn’t worry - I’ve done this countless times! It is painless, really. Well, for but a moment. Only a pinch, really.”

Jack grimaced. “Yeesh, lady. You must really have it out for us. You don’t know a thing about us, and you already want us dead!”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jack Russell.” Lenneth advanced. One step forward, one more chess piece in place. “I know all about you. You and Mikey.” She gestured towards the two of them with a low sweep of her hand.

Jack chuckled, but it quivered as it came out. “Heh, guess my name gets around even in other worlds, huh?” Even his quips lacked their punch. Mikey recognized that tone - she had unhinged him.

“It has.” Lenneth folded her hands across her chest. “Your mother has told me much of your accomplishments.”

“...Mom?” The word concealed a stifled sob. One sentence stole the breath from inside him. Jack’s eyes widened, his body slackening, lifeless in an instant. ““Wait, I don’t get it. Mom wasn’t a war hero!”

“Does she need to be? We welcome all the heroic in Valhalla.” Lenneth saluted, one hand pressed to her head, the other resting on her sword. “You need not slay dragons to be a hero, Jack Russell. Your mother braved death and disease with unparalleled resolve and grace. That dignity gave rise to a strength no sword could rival. She rest nows, at peace in glory - without infirmity.”

Mikey had known Jack for many moons now. He had discovered countless secrets, seen unpredictable sides to him. If there was one thing Mikey had yet to see Jack be, it was speechless.

Until now.

For a moment, Mikey believed Jack might break. He braced for the impact of the fall, to shoulder the weight of his broken commander. Instead, only his lips broke - into a grin. “I’m happy for her. She deserves it.”

“She would be even happier if she could see her son now.” Lenneth outstretched her hand towards Jack.

“Thanks…” Jack said, wiping an unshed tear from his eyes. 

For a moment, Mikey feared he might agree to go with her. The world could afford to lose the protector of the Forest Metropolis. But the defender of the Golden Dragon? Not a chance. 

“...but no. You must not know my Mom at all.”

Lenneth recoiled, hand struck by his accusation. Even an angel could not disguise her surprise.

“I don’t know much about Mom, but if she’s anything like Adele, then she’d give me the scolding of a lifetime if I bailed out early just to see her. I still have promises to keep here! I’d let her down if I left them all unfinished.” Jack raised his eyes to the sky, searching for someone who would not be staring back. “Besides, she’s got Dad to keep her company for now.”

Lenneth settled back into position. Her composure restored, she cleared her throat with renewed vigor. “An honest answer.” Instead, she turned towards Mikey. “And you, little one? What is it you wish?”

Mikey considered his answer. On one hand, he knew what he wanted to do. On the other hand, he knew what he needed to do. What was his wish? _I just wish that what I want and what I need were one and the same..._

“I wish…” Mikey hesitated. Sweat clung to his shaking hands. Fire licked the inside of his throat. He could not back down. Not now. “...to see Lord Nogueira.”

Jack slumped backwards in defeat. His eyes pleaded in silent protest, but his body made no motion to stop him.

“Excellent.” Lenneth reached for his arm. “Then just take my hand and--”

“--when I’m finished keeping my promise to him here. On Tottaus.” Before Lenneth could make contact, Mikey snatched his hand from her grasp. “Jack made a promise to Ridley, and I made one to Lord Nogueira. A long time ago, I told him I would always defend the forest from outsiders. If I went to him now, I would leave all of my friends, my family, without anyone to protect them. I don’t want to disappoint Lord Nogueira. So I’m staying - until I’m a hero he can be proud of! When that time comes, you can come claim me and bring me back to him.” Mikey’s lips split with unbridled determination. “That is my wish.”

Lenneth assessed his answer. She considered the stipulations, chewing on its possibilities before finding she liked what she had tasted. At last, she retreated from his side, but her pleasure knew no ebb.

“What a fine wish it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mikey and Valkyrie attained support level B!"


	3. Pathway to Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikey makes one last stop at the entrance to perfection with one final hope of making their wishes come true.

Two weeks since his wish. Two weeks since Jack Russell scoured the Distortion Corridor for another escape route. Two weeks since they conquered the Ethereal Queen’s regime.

Two weeks and still Mikey could not quit thinking about the angel at the gates of glory.

Be it impulse or plan, wisdom or stupidity, Mikey found his feet carrying him out of the Metropolis, through the Dragons’s Lairs, past the Distortion Corridor and up the steps to the golden gateway. Lenneth stood, her back his only greeting, before the entrance to eternity.

Mikey curled his hands around his mouth, issuing the warning call Franz had taught him. Or rather, the one Mikey had acquired from countless hours spent watching their would-be monk make more noises than progress.

Lenneth spun at the unexpected sound. Instinct ushered her hand to the hilt of her longsword. “Who comes?” 

The authoritative tone of the angels sent shockwaves down Mikey’s spine. No mortal could withstand the command of the divine without at least a hint of fear - and Mikey had to plenty of terror to spare. “It’s just me, I swear!” He held his hands up before his face. “Don’t shoot!”

Lenneth scrutinized her guest. Narrowed eyes gave way to an unanticipated ease as she approved of her findings. “Ah, Mikey.” Her sword, now half-withdrawn, slipped effortlessly back into its sheath. “You return.”

“You remember!” A grin tugged at his lips.

Lenneth showed no less pleasure. “I can recall countless heroes - you and Jack Russell are not so easily forgotten.” She beckoned him to her side. “Come. Have you changed your mind? My offer still stands.”

“Not exactly,” Mikey admitted. Still, he obeyed her summons, drawing near to her.

Whitened eyebrows huddled together. “Then what have you come for?”

“For you.”

She scoffed. “Funny. Normally I am the one who whisks another away.”

Pins and needles scaled Mikey’s neck, crawling up to caress his cheeks and kiss them red. “What? Wait, no, I meant...not that you don’t...it’s just--”

An uplifted hand halted his sputtering. “Just a joke.” The edge of her lips curled upwards and Mikey could not help but feel that flushing sensation wash over the entirety of his body. “Why do you come for me, Mikey of the Metropolis?”

_Mikey of the Metropolis_. It had a nice ring to it. He had always valued alliteration in his storybooks. 

“Well…” Mikey chewed his bottom lip. How did he explain this? “...It’s because you’re always the one bringing people into Valhalla. But...you’re here - outside its gates.”

Lenneth stared back, blank. “It’s my duty.”

“It’s _lonely_ ,” Mikey emphasized. “I know better than anyone. While everyone else is inside - dancing, laughing, celebrating - you’re here, outside...wishing you could be with them.”

Without need for direction, their eyes sought the golden gates behind them. He could only picture the parties of the afterlife. Guys spinning their girls round and round the gemstone streets, meats of foreign animals arrayed atop platters of silver and mythril and jacinth, elven wine flowing like waterfalls from their endless storehouse. He envied the dead, even now.

“But you have a job,” he continued, voice cracking with the uncertainty of his assertion, “one you can’t give up, no matter what! Because you care about your duty, but you care about your people more. So you stand, steadfast, day after day after day in front of those gates - alone.”

Lenneth stared at the entrance to her heavenly home, an inexplicable longing piercing through her once-stoic expression. Silver locks stretched towards the gateway in desperate pursuit of their dwelling place. “I never knew another to understand my plight so well.” Jilted laughter broke forth from twisted lips. “And to think, a mortal of all things…”

Her bemusement infected him with pride and pleasure in tandem. “I guess we’re more alike than we thought.”

“Maybe so,” Lenneth agreed. A somber fog settled atop her eyes. “It’s as you say - the burden we bear is a weight we alone must carry. It can feel...suffocating, at times, without another to share.”

“I thought the same thing - until I met Jack.”

Lenneth studied him without shame. Fogged eyes fought to find something as-of-yet unidentified in the elf they studied. “He is...special to you?”

“Jack is all kinds of special,” Mikey said, stifling his laughter. “But he made me realize that I wasn’t so alone in the world after all. He was fighting to protect our planet, the same way I was fighting to defend our forest…” He paused, pointed at the golden gates. “...the same way you’re fighting to guard Valhalla.”

“A true hero.”

“Not exactly the kind you’d find in fairytales,” Mikey noted. He could not resist the instinctive roll of his eyes. “Then again, he’s all we’ve got.”

“All you have,” Lenneth said, “and all you need.” Her words left a melancholy melody lingering in the air.

Mikey’s heart ached at the sound. “Do you not have anyone? No one special? Not even your…” _What were they called again?_ “...in-hair-jars?”

“Close enough.” Lenneth nearly snorted. “It is...different with them.” Her warworn fingers wove through the braid that hung about them. For a moment, she seemed more child than champion. “My einherjar wish to support me, this I am sure, but they do not even understand the burden they ask to bear. I cannot ask them to carry what was not meant for them.”

“I know what you mean,” Mikey said. “Everyone in the Metropolis was like that, too.”

Images manifested in his mind: of Clarence dragging his half-asleep form out from between the Brewery kegs, of Romaria drop kicking the snakes and Tsuchinokos that drifted too close to home, of Chatt spinning tales of blood orcs on the loose just to have him leave his post for a short while. Some memories aged better than others, Mikey realized, but they brought a smile to his lips nonetheless.

“They always wanted me to take a break, let someone else keep watch for a while. I know they meant well and all, but most times? Most times they only made things worse.”

“If you understand that, then...” Lenneth’s gaze fluttered to the gates that stood taunting her tongue. “There was. Someone, I mean.” She swallowed the words. The confession seemed half a battle in and of itself. “Once.”

“What happened to him?”

“He died - at the hands of my enemy.” Unpolished fingers scraped against her armor, her skin, her shame.

Curiosity cocked Mikey’s head sideways. “But, if he’s dead, couldn’t you bring him to Valhalla?”

Lenneth grimaced, though be it in rage or in grief, Mikey could not determine. No matter the emotion, he decided it did not suit her. “Odin did not deem him worthy.” Odin. She almost spat out his name.

_Rage, then_ , Mikey realized. Such a human emotion, marring the immortal tongue.

“...I’m sorry.”

Lenneth refused the apology with a shake of her silver locks. Any sign of residual resentment started to dissipate, bitterness surrendering to reluctant acceptance. “No need. It is an old wound, one I have not thought about in a long time.”

_A lie._ One she might not admit, even to herself, but it did not disqualify truth. _Those gates gut her at every glance,_ Mikey thought. _She hasn’t forgotten him_. “What was his name?”

All anger gave way to a nostalgic adoration, the likes of which Mikey had witnessed only when Lord Nogueira spoke of his City of Flowers he left behind. “Lucian,” Lenneth said. A bittersweet confession, the sigh of a maiden in love.

“Do you want to see him again?”

Lenneth nodded. “More than anything?”

“Is that your wish?”

“My...wish?”

“You know, a wish!” Lenneth showed no sign of comprehension, and so Mikey persisted. “Come on, you asked Jack and I what we wished for! Is yours to be reunited with your friend, too?”

Lenneth rested her chin upon her upraised hand. “Hmm, I suppose so.” Tear-stained eyes hid behind their lids, shielding themselves from Mikey’s prying glance. “One that will never be.”

“Don’t say that!”

Lenneth shrugged. Once-closed eyes fluttered open to accept deferred hope. “It is true.”

“I thought I knew truth,” Mikey said, “and then I met you.” He reached out to grasp her wrists. _She has to understand! I...I have to make her understand!_ “Don’t you get it? You told me I could see Lord Nogueira again! I always thought that reuniting with him would have been a fantasy. I never even believed in gods before!” He squeezed her hands with tender ardor. “You might be a valkyrie and all, but maybe there’s more than you know, too. Maybe you just have to meet someone who will show you a whole new truth.”

A manicured hand covered Mikey’s. The subtle warmth of heavenly comfort flowed into his skin at her touch. “Perhaps I already have.”

Mikey flushed, withdrew his hands from the heat. “Then, if you don’t have your old one, maybe you and I could be...friends?”

“I have not made a friend in a long time.”

“Which is exactly why you need me!” Mikey giggled. “Gatekeepers can’t survive alone, you know. We need each other.”

“Thank you, Mikey,” Lenneth said, “for the enlightenment...and for your friendship.” She rested a gentle hand against his chest, fondling the button above where his heart beat. “I have wished for a friend like you for too long now.”

Mikey clasped his own hand atop her’s. He impressed an unspoken prayer into her palm: one for Lucian, one for Lenneth, and another for Nogueira. Perhaps Odin would deem his wish worthy. One day, an answered prayer. For now, a desperate wish.

“And what a fine wish it is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Mikey and Valkyrie attained support level C!"
> 
> And that concludes our adventure, ladies and gentleman! Thank you SO much to anyone - past, present or future - who has graced or will grace this story with comments, kudos and hits. It is always a pleasure to write for such a wonderful world with some of the most memorable characters in any game to date. Hopefully this won't be the last time we venture into Radiata together!


End file.
